VC Angle Weekly Briefing #35: Several New European Unicorns, Defense Tech Draws Half a Billion & UK Venture Recovering
VC Angle Weekly Update #35
Hey - welcome to the thirty-fifth edition of VC Angle Weekly Updates! We’re moving weekly briefings to Sundays from now on.
As always, we're keeping tabs on what actually matters across 🇪🇺 European tech, as well as relevant global tech news. If something broke the news this week and it's worth your time, it's probably below. Scroll on for the deals, reads, and reports you'll want on your radar.
In This Edition:
Merge Labs raises $252M led by OpenAI for non-invasive brain interfaces
Parloa triples to $3B valuation in 8 months on $350M Series D
osapiens hits unicorn status on $100M sustainability compliance raise
DTCP launches €500M defense fund, Europe’s largest private security VC initiative
McKinsey: Europe’s sovereign AI opportunity worth €480B by 2030
UK venture capital rebounds 35% to $23.6B in 2025
⏱️ 4:47 Reading Time
💥 Main Events Past Week
Sam Altman’s brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs raised $252M in a round led by OpenAI, where Altman serves as CEO, with backing from Bain Capital and Valve founder Gabe Newell. Unlike Neuralink’s surgical implants, Merge is pursuing non-invasive brain-interface technology and starting with healthcare applications before expanding to consumer use.
Berlin’s Parloa triples valuation to $3B in 8 months on $350M Series D
Berlin-based customer service AI startup Parloa raised $350M Series D led by General Catalyst, tripling its valuation to $3B just eight months after reaching $1B unicorn status. The company generates over $50M ARR serving enterprise customers including Allianz, Booking.com, and SAP, competing against Sierra ($10B valuation) and Decagon (reportedly raising at $4B+) in the race to automate the 17M-agent global contact center market.
German enterprise software firm osapiens raised $100M Series C led by Decarbonization Partners, reaching unicorn status. Founded in 2019, the company’s cloud-based platform integrates 25+ software solutions helping companies manage supply chains and comply with sustainability regulations including EUDR, CSRD, and CSDDD, serving 2,400+ customers globally with 550+ employees across Europe and the US.
📰 Other News
DTCP launches €500M defense tech fund, Europe's largest private VC initiative for security technologies
European Commission commits €307M under Horizon Europe to fund trustworthy AI, quantum technologies, and next-gen AI agents
Mistral AI CEO says being non-American is competitive advantage in Europe
Wikipedia signs AI content partnerships with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI
Almost 10 VC funds were born out of Speedinvest
Novo Nordisk Foundation commits €736M to Copenhagen's BioInnovation Institute
👇🏼 Read some of our previous weekly reports to stay in the loop with 🇪🇺 European tech news:
💶 Where Funds Went (Or Will Go)
Startups
🇪🇸 Zepo Intelligence — $15M | Human-centric security to protect workspaces from AI risks.
🇫🇮 Avenue Biosciences — $5.7M | High-throughput protein engineering.
🇳🇱 Klearly — €12M | Payments platform for restaurants, bars, and clubs.
🇨🇭 Ahead Health — $6M | Building an AI-powered health system in Europe.
🇩🇪 NetBird — $10M | Open-source VPN alternative / network security platform.
🇬🇧 Nuclera — $87M | Series C extension to accelerate antibody engineering.
🇬🇧 Haiqu — $11M | Quantum software seed round (UK/Ukraine/US footprint).
🇩🇪 osapiens — $100M | Sustainability software; raise pushes it to unicorn status.
🇧🇪 Aikido — $60M | AppSec/cybersecurity Series B at $1B valuation.
🇩🇪 Parloa — $350M | AI voice agents for call centres; valuation ~$3B.
🇺🇦 HOLYWATER — $22M | Mobile “microdrama” content expansion.
🇫🇷 Harmattan AI — $200M | Autonomous defence systems; unicorn status and struck a deal with a French aerospace group.
Venture Funds
🇩🇪 Rosberg Ventures — $100M | Closed Fund III.
🇩🇰 BioInnovation Institute (Novo Nordisk Foundation) — €736M | Allocation to scale life sciences + deeptech innovation.
🇩🇪 DTCP — €20M per deal | New defence/security & dual-use investment vehicle.
M&A 🤝
🇬🇧 Haydale → SaveMoneyCutCarbon — up to £24M | Bought the decarbonisation platform (all-share deal).
🇺🇦 Choice31 → IAMPM — undisclosed | Acquired the IAMPM online school.
🇪🇸 Helsing → Keybotic — undisclosed | Acquired Barcelona robotics startup Keybotic (robotic inspection/infra protection).
🇨🇭 YKONE → FAB STUDIO — undisclosed | Acquired Zurich-based creative/social agency FAB STUDIO to build YKONE Zurich.
🇮🇪 Haemonetics → Vivasure Medical — €100M upfront + up to €85M earnout | Acquired Galway medtech (vessel closure).
🔍 Reads & Reports
McKinsey: Europe’s sovereign AI opportunity worth €480B by 2030
Europe could add €480 billion to annual GDP by 2030 through sovereign AI capabilities, but only if it moves fast. The US invested $300 billion in AI from 2020-2024 versus Europe’s $62 billion, leaving the continent dependent on foreign providers in cloud and foundation models despite strength in industrial applications.
Dealroom/HSBC: UK venture capital hits $23.6B in 2025 comeback
UK venture funding jumped 35% to $23.6 billion in 2025, marking the third-strongest year on record behind the 2021-2022 peak. Fintech drove the recovery with 36 megarounds above $100 million, led by Revolut’s $2 billion raise. The UK’s innovation economy now stands at $1.3 trillion—seven times larger than a decade ago—with 58% of that value created by companies founded since 2010. Fintech accounts for 32% of ecosystem value, health 13%, and deep tech 20%.
💶 Where Funds Went (Or Will Go)
Startups
🇪🇸 Zepo Intelligence — $15M | Human-centric security to protect workspaces from AI risks.
🇫🇮 Avenue Biosciences — $5.7M | High-throughput protein engineering.
🇳🇱 Klearly — €12M | Payments platform for restaurants, bars, and clubs.
🇨🇭 Ahead Health — $6M | Building an AI-powered health system in Europe.
🇩🇪 NetBird — $10M | Open-source VPN alternative / network security platform.
🇬🇧 Nuclera — $87M | Series C extension to accelerate antibody engineering.
🇬🇧 Haiqu — $11M | Quantum software seed round (UK/Ukraine/US footprint).
🇩🇪 osapiens — $100M | Sustainability software; raise pushes it to unicorn status.
🇧🇪 Aikido — $60M | AppSec/cybersecurity Series B at $1B valuation.
🇩🇪 Parloa — $350M | AI voice agents for call centres; valuation ~$3B.
🇺🇦 HOLYWATER — $22M | Mobile “microdrama” content expansion.
🇫🇷 Harmattan AI — $200M | Autonomous defence systems; unicorn status and struck a deal with a French aerospace group.
Venture Funds
🇩🇪 Rosberg Ventures — $100M | Closed Fund III.
🇩🇰 BioInnovation Institute (Novo Nordisk Foundation) — €736M | Allocation to scale life sciences + deeptech innovation.
🇩🇪 DTCP — €20M per deal | New defence/security & dual-use investment vehicle.
M&A 🤝
🇬🇧 Haydale → SaveMoneyCutCarbon — up to £24M | Bought the decarbonisation platform (all-share deal).
🇺🇦 Choice31 → IAMPM — undisclosed | Acquired the IAMPM online school.
🇪🇸 Helsing → Keybotic — undisclosed | Acquired Barcelona robotics startup Keybotic (robotic inspection/infra protection).
🇨🇭 YKONE → FAB STUDIO — undisclosed | Acquired Zurich-based creative/social agency FAB STUDIO to build YKONE Zurich.
🇮🇪 Haemonetics → Vivasure Medical — €100M upfront + up to €85M earnout | Acquired Galway medtech (vessel closure).
👋 That’s a wrap for this week.
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